The Daily PakistanPolitics Nov 19-20, 2009

• Nov20-2009--In the gathering pace of attacks on peshawar two more suicide attacks killed 22...it was the sixth and seventh attack in 11 days showing that the main center of taleban planning suicide attacks had not yet been effected
  
• Nov20-2009--Yusuf Raza Gilani whom many liken to Nero who ruled while teh country burned around him seems to have an inability to understand that there is no way barring teh NRO that anyone can be out of jail without having paid a cent from a Rs200 million loan in over twenty years..the negotiated settlement scheme was also under teh auspices of NAB too......for a man who thinks he is the CEO he could not setup a simple oil extraction facility and make it work...even a man with a buffalo can ordinarily do that...he says his wife used to meet teh NAB chairman to discuss his and her cases...yusuf raza also went scot free after cases of employment graft, kickbacks in car purchases, setting fire to teh national assembly,and national assembly repairs were dropped......after yusuf raza saw his wifes and thousands of mqm mens cases listed he had the list redrawn..his wifes company did not even return a single rupee..
  
• Nov20-2009--The PPP regime many are likening to a vulture or crocodile which prey on unsuspecting gazelles and dying animals even when their stomachs are full...The government has become almost senseless... unable to feel the peoples suffering as it sits on billions and still tries to suck in whatever the people have in every way that they can think of...The governments greed is insatiable and the only wayout is their removal as teh provincial governments too get greedier and greedier...The PMLn too is unable to be a good opposition as they donot realize that the system is badly damaged as it cannot think in terms of a sane approach to prices, revenues, provincial shares and profitability... terms that are used to make teh life of people as difficult as possible...when it comes to landlords, industrialists they are given all the favours possible when they do good or bad while the people have to suffer the consequences of benefiting a small percentage of teh population..when the agriculturist, industrialist or politician cannot repay their loans they are restructured or forgiven or written off or a price hike is ordered whether it be wheat, sugar or electricity......when rich landlords want a reduction in electricity prices for their tubewells they are halved...when they say we cant grow wheat its price is tripled......but when it comes to people demanding an end to price hikes and shortages...they are promised even more price hikes and even more shortages...when teh sugar baroness who heads the national assembly sees that the CCP is fining her husbands sugar mill the bill is delayed...
  
• Nov20-2009--In what many think is a complication of a simple process the punjab agrees to end the population basis of of divying up provincial funds as center also agrees to increase provincial share...what nobody thinks about is that it has to come out of teh common mans pocket..The new formula whose percentages are yet tobe decided is tobe based on population,revenue collection, backwardness and inverse population density meaning that each new condition will reduce punjabs share...with sindh being the least backward with medical universities in literally rural towns that would benefit nwfp and balochistan...revenue collection would benefit only sindh and punjab....inverse population density would benefit only balochistan...the government should realize that sindh collects taxes that are paid by the punjab populace...many feel that punjab should start collecting such taxes as sales tax itself...in general sales tax with 16% on all consumables and applicable to everything like electricity, gas, phones,airplane tickets and industrial products should be the biggest tax and that at least should be divided on a population basis while corporate taxes and income taxes can be divided on a provincial basis...FBR also wants to create a VAT as well which will be applicable to finished products and that will further cause problems as it creates another 300-400 billion dent in the peoples pockets...price hikes to cause at least another 150 billion loss to peopel as well...provinces also to pass on some finances to nwfp for terrorism losses..nawaz sharif had better realize that teh qurbanis should come out of his pockets rather than the poor punjabis...
  
• Nov20-2009--13 suspected militants killed in bajaur operations
  
• Nov20-2009--two militants killed in Hangu
  
• Nov19-2009--In the NFC talks reports of accord on vertical distribution and problems in horizontal distribution as punjab leaders already subjugated talk of equality amongst provinces..provinces share tobe upped by around 10%...provinces have to decide how backwardness and revenue generation are tobe calculated since many of punjabs payments are collected in sindh...sindh has the strangest position in which it wants the shares of other provinces tobe decreased while not asking for an increase from teh center...with overall revenues now being much higher teh centers position to distribute more is easy and it  should allow provinces to decide how much taxes they want for example punjab might go for a much lower sales tax than sindh...for example sindh goes for higher employment while punjab does not...provinces should also be encouraged to improve service deliveries in teh education, security, policing and health fields...many fields such as higher education,handling petroleum and gas , power generation and distribution could also be provincialised...
  
• Nov19-2009--In stark contrast to the high tariffs for teh people.. farmers who have tubewells are given a low tariff of Rs4.25 almost as if they are poverty stricken while actually farmers with tubewells are usually amongst the richer segments
  
• Nov19-2009--The US does not know india very well is the assumption in pakistan as it is wary of both pakistan and china and has active lobbies working against pakistan....india has not allowed any issue tobe solved in the region and unless the US understands india's basic fears it will not get anywhere...India has not allowed any country to help solve its differences with pakistan...since the seventies it has consistently refused to negotiate a solution on kashmir and whenever teh situation is even mildly favorable it creates another problem so that it can shun pakistan as well as a solution...india does not work well when other countries are involved as it would have to take a secondary place in any system to china and teh USA or europe...thus its avoidance ie isolation not only in the region but also in teh world as it only prefers to work with countries that accept its hegemony or on its own...India not willing to accept any other country if its own power is threatened...
  
• Nov19-2009--The PPP quickly smothered a report that said that its sindhi allies benefited the most from the NRO and ordered a new list in which only a few people related to governance are included...it is assumed that teh courts would have tobe allowed to decide which cases should be reopened as some cases have high political value but no decidable factor or a new law would have tobe formulated that guides the government in how to deal with such issues...a blanket ending of cases would thus be impossible...in many cases teh previous governments even apologised and gave conciliatory contracts to defuse teh situation...
  
• Nov19-2009--chinese laying sewage pipes for DHA in lahores Burki area attacked..four motorcycles burnt
  
• Nov19-2009--US drone attack kills four in the tribal areas
  
• Nov19-2009--7 civilians killed in hangu bombings by security forces and four killed in ghiljo bombings in bajaur
  
• Nov19-2009--PMLn suggests that teh government talk to all baloch figures on a baloch package..says punjab building a Rs. 2 billion cardiology center in quetta, increased university seats to 250 for baloch students and agreed to buy coal from balochistan for a 100MW power station in DG Khan...
  
• Nov19-2009--six bodies found in swat and five militants killed in kurram operations while two killed in bajaur clashes..
  
• Nov19-2009--Nawaz Sharif says that the COAS does not want an extension amid reports of Kiani starting the selection process of teh new COAS...usually army chiefs are appointed for three years and that would take Kiani into teh middle of next year...usually the outgoing army chief reccomends 4-6 generals for the government to choose from..earlier the process was that only those generals would be reccommended who had at least 2-3 years before retirement...usually lt generals are retired after serving for four years...